The bonding of attachments to teeth, such as brackets, molar tubes, retentive devices and functional appliances, is well known. The bracket, bonded by an adhesive to teeth, allows one or more wires to be anchored to the bracket so that forces may be applied for correcting the positions of teeth.
Excess adhesive needs to be removed, not only for cosmetic purposes, but for other reasons as well. Excess adhesive affords niches for bacteria. The excess is annoying especially if hardened between the teeth. Bonding material in the archwire slot interferes with the interaction of the wire and bracket. The present invention is concerned with facilitating removal of excess bonding adhesive following emplacement of the bracket, and for facilitating removal of residual adhesive left on teeth after brackets or other bonded attachments have been debonded.
Heretofore, it has been known to use fluorescent agents in dental composites for certain purposes such as to detect plaque-like deposits, and to produce a restored tooth that will fluoresce.